Page 34 of Mountain Defender

Wishing to put him at ease as quickly as possible, Alexia rushed through the rest of the scenario. “There were signs of a struggle. The covers on the bed messed up. Half on the floor. I think Caden came home that night and they had a fight. Something snapped in him and he killed her.”

Tripp’s eyes moved around the room, settling on nothing until they hit her. “You make it sound easy. Black-and-white.”

She cocked a brow. “Isn’t it?”

“You almost had it. I know better.”

Her insides felt like someone latched on to them with tough fingers and squeezed. In that moment, she realized she didn’t want Tripp to know a thing about this case. She didn’t want him to be involved at all.

ChapterEight

Tripp liked watching Alexia in action. At least she was trying to come up with a scenario that was different from the police report.

He waved a hand at the surroundings he couldn’t focus his vision on. “You almost had it. I know better.”

Her spine straightened with the surprise that showed clear on her beautiful face. “What do you know?”

Wordlessly, he turned away from the room and strode to the kitchen. When he stopped, Alexia bumped into him.

A soft“Oof!”came from her right before she pushed away.

He reached out to steady her but she’d already put space between them.

He scanned the kitchen, wishing the cleanup crew hadn’t taken away evidence and put things in their place, yet thankful at the same time. No way could he walk into that bedroom and see blood on the floor.

“What do you know, Tripp?” Alexia narrowed her eyes on him.

“I know the inner workings of their relationship. I know they had a fight, you’re right about that.”

“Okay…”

“Were the lights in the kitchen on?”

She nodded. “The one over the kitchen sink.”

He rocked a little as if the cold creeping over him was really a gust of icy mountain wind. “How many spoons?”

Her jaw dropped. “How do you know about the spoons? Did you get access to my preliminary report?”

He hadn’t. He just knew.

“Answer the question.”

“Two spoons. Laid out on the counter with one bowl.”

His stomach dipped, but he only took a second to recover. “Here’s what happened.” He moved to the sink and flipped on the light over it. “This light is the bat signal.”

She gaped at him. “I don’t follow.”

“Think of this. It’s dark outside, but somebody could see through that window”—he pointed—“and the light is enough for them to see there’s a bowl on the table and two spoons. Kelsey and Cadendidfight that night, but the spoons and bowl were Kelsey’s signal to Caden that she was ready to make up.”

Alexia’s eyes widened.

“They always shared a bowl of ice cream after a fight. One bowl. Two spoons.” He studied her face for a reaction. Talking about this was never easy, but talking to Alexia made it more about facts and evidence rather than pain.

She twisted to look at the light and then the counter where the bowl had sat. “So I’m right? He came home and was too angry to make up?”

“That I don’t know. Either way, the question has always been where he wandered off to.”

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